Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act

[Gren71]

My dealer has worked on every jeep I have had with all the modifications. Guess I'm just fortunate.

Sponsored

 

[Troybilt]

You're really not understanding man.

The dealer never works on the vehicle because it is modified.


Attorneys don't take pro-bono cases when the damages are $500. Or $5000 or even $50,000 because the staff attorneys for the manufacturer are going to fight it to avoid a larger group settlement and the attorney you secured will spend many, many ,many hours on it.

Believe what you like, but when the day comes, you're going to be disappointed.

Do you really think that the little guy in this situation the dealer is calling the shots? How many lawsuits would FCA have to loose due to dealers refusing warranty work would it take before FCA shut that behavior down?

Lets say a $500 audio component fails and the dealer refuses to work on it because of a unrelated MOD. Then FCA refuses to do the same. The layer would then take the case sue FCA and maybe the dealer and get your $500 component fixed under warranty and add there fee. Thats how it works. You pay nothing out of pocket FCA pays $4,000 for a $500 audio component and layer fees.

Do you understand man?

 

[Troybilt]

My dealer has worked on every jeep I have had with all the modifications. Guess I'm just fortunate.

Not just fortunate. That is how it works in the real word. MMA is the law and almost everyone understands that.

 

[Blown7]

Not just fortunate. That is how it works in the real word. MMA is the law and almost everyone understands that.

From the way you speak and the way you hold MMA in such high regard .....only tells me you have never been a Plaintiff in such an action.

If you had been you would never be so sure, of the outcome or how an attorney will take a suit.

Thats all I have to say about that.

 

[bgenlvtex]

Do you really think that the little guy in this situation the dealer is calling the shots? How many lawsuits would FCA have to loose due to dealers refusing warranty work would it take before FCA shut that behavior down?

Lets say a $500 audio component fails and the dealer refuses to work on it because of a unrelated MOD. Then FCA refuses to do the same. The layer would then take the case sue FCA and maybe the dealer and get your $500 component fixed under warranty and add there fee. Thats how it works. You pay nothing out of pocket FCA pays $4,000 for a $500 audio component and layer fees.

Do you understand man?

They aren't refusing warranty work, they're refusing to work on the vehicle entirely, which is their decision, they can refuse service to anyone at any time for any reason and are under no burden of law to articulate those reasons.

The dealerships have entered into franchise agreements with FCA, FCA does not own the dealership. The dealership neither approves nor dis-approves warranty items, that is entirely in FCA hands.

But in order to present the claim to FCA (or any other manufacturer for that matter) it has to be accepted into the shop and work performed to establish the need for repair.

Dealerships stock/sell/warranty OEM parts. Where the problem comes in, is when they have to disassemble after market parts and fixtures to perform the potentially warranted repair. If proprietary parts or pieces of those aftermarket parts are broken, lost or found to be defective during assembly and dis-assembly, they may not have the ability to source those parts to complete the repair. Some times things that you may think are totally unrelated to the problem (and actually are) have to be removed and replaced to access the sub system that needs repair. Additionally removing and replacing those aftermarket parts can very easily push the time for the job outside of the realm of what the warranty will pay for, meaning the mechanic isn't getting paid and neither is the dealership. So some dealers (who have already been burned by this) will simply refuse to work on the vehicle.

The dealer refusing to work on the vehicle and the manufacturer refusing warranty due to after market parts are separate and distinctly different issues. Using your example if FCA refused to warranty your head unit because you installed a lift(which is super unlikely but possible) then you may have legitimate cause for an M-M suit. However if you can't get a dealership to diagnose your problem , how are you supposed to get to where FCA refused a warranty?

Having said all of that there are shitty ambulance chasing lawyers everywhere. You may in fact find one dumb enough to take a pro-bono suit against a multi-national corporation where his payday will be minuscule, but if you do he is likely going to suck so bad you're going to lose.

Best course of action is talk to your dealership before you buy a vehicle you plan to modify. Build a relationship with that dealership and let them make some money. If you buy your Jeep from dealership (A) in Bungholia, Michigan because he is cheapest, then drag it through the Quadratec catalog and take it to dealer (B) in Yourhometown,Kansas wanting them to deal with the warranty and a bunch of aftermarket parts made of Chinesium and full of proprietary fasteners and bits, don't be surprised when he says "Thanks for stopping by, but we aren't accepting any more repair work right now, but have a nice day."

ETA: When they enter the VIN number into the computer it tells them who the delivering dealer was. Those people know who is out there muddying up their water for them by selling at deep discounts. Are some of them going to "adjust their level of service" accordingly? Probably not more than 99% of the time.

 

[Ole Cowboy]

You say that "the MOD does NOT have to be connected to the requested warranty service" but then give two scenarios in witch the Mod clearly is connected to the issue.

Just think on that...

DIfferent size fuel injectors and you have a fail event in your motor

Cold air intake and your turbo goes belly up and the dealer finds a small piece of gravel or a washer inside

EGR Delete which many do

you can go on and on with a litany of things that as a result of improper install or fitment caused a failure. If you think any dealer is going to spend shop hours sorting out YOUR mods you in a dream world.

 

[donmontalvo]

If the dealer is offering to put a mopar lift and 35’s on, how much of a counter argument can they possible have when you lift it and put 35’s and lose the water pump? How much of a fight is worth a water pump versus taking their written denial of service and forwarding it along with your independent repair invoice to @JeepCares and fighting it out on some kind of customer care credit etc.

I own a 2021 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon, hope y'all are OK with my posting here.

I bought a new 2021 JLUR through my local Jeep dealer in 2021. I confirmed with the Jeep dealer that they can install their Mopar lift, ICON Rebound Pro wheels, and BFG KO2 315/70R17C tires, and the Jeep warranty would cover it, since the dealer is doing the work. I confirmed that if I decide to do my own oil changes, as long as I keep my receipts and log the miles at the time of the oil changes, I'm covered by the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.

I bought an extended warranty through the dealer (Continental Warranty), but in hindsight I didn't think to ask about doing my own oil changes. So I recently called them, and was told oil changes must be done by a certified mechanic at a shop. They told me that even if I kept receipts, log mileage, etc., it wouldn't matter. So I plan to cancel the Continental Warranty, and accept the pro-rated refund minus some fees.

I have my JLUR modified as needed for moderate wheeling, but more for overlanding. I will be retiring in a few years, and I plan to do tons of overlanding. Since I'm at 45K miles, and Jeep's drivetrain warranty is good for 6Y/60K miles, I'll be without warranty before I retire. But at least cancelling the Continental Warranty will give me a few bucks to put away in case I have a problem in the future. I always change my oil at 5K miles, even if that sounds crazy, that should help in the long term.

Sanity check, is cancelling the Continental Warranty a good idea?

 

[cranbiz]

3rd party extended warranties are usually not worth the paper they are written on. I would cancel it ASAP. If you are really worried about having an extended warranty, buy a Mopar warranty. There are online Mopar sellers. Chrysler Factory Direct and Tom Winkles at Hayes Auto Group are 2 that sell genuine Mopar MaxCare warranties at a sizable discount.

 

[Great Offender]

buy a Mopar warranty.

Out of curiosity, what's the cost of a Mopar extended warranty? I know there are different levels but can someone provide a guesstimate based on their coverage/experience?

 

[cranbiz]

Out of curiosity, what's the cost of a Mopar extended warranty? I know there are different levels but can someone provide a guesstimate based on their coverage/experience?

You can get an online quote from chryslerfactoryplans.com . Plug in the details of your Gladiator, how long you want coverage and the mileage you want and they will give you an instant quote. This will give you a baseline to work from, then call Tom Winkles and see what he will do. It will most likely be less but I wouldn't expect a lot less.

See here.
https://www.chryslerfactoryplans.com/process/plans.aspx?type=primary

 

[Hootbro]

Sanity check, is cancelling the Continental Warranty a good idea?

I think it is a good idea since it is a third party warranty. As you have found out, they have pitfalls in what they will cover and what you must prove has been done by "certified" mechanics for maintenance.

 

[sharpsicle]

I think it is a good idea since it is a third party warranty. As you have found out, they have pitfalls in what they will cover and what you must prove has been done by "certified" mechanics for maintenance.

Yep, I canceled a similar warranty for the same reasons.

The burden of proof was excessive, the caveats they built in always leave all the risk and liability on your for any repair (as in, they'll let thousands of dollars of work happen and then use one reason to deny it all), and then if you have any disputes with them you're forced into arbitration. There isn't much accountability or recourse available to you.

I didn't like any of that, especially considering I can work on and fix most problems myself.

 

[Great Offender]

You can get an online quote from chryslerfactoryplans.com . Plug in the details of your Gladiator, how long you want coverage and the mileage you want and they will give you an instant quote. This will give you a baseline to work from, then call Tom Winkles and see what he will do. It will most likely be less but I wouldn't expect a lot less.

See here.
https://www.chryslerfactoryplans.com/process/plans.aspx?type=primary

Appreciated!

Sponsored